Considering a DTS? Here’s What You Need to Know
Are you considering doing a DTS?
What is holding you back? What is making you curious for more?
We know the feelings. There can be so many questions before taking a leap of faith.
Join us in learning about what DTS really is. This is the inside scoop on the history of DTS. You can learn how it started and why it even became a thing.
Because it’s not just a program, it’s a missions movement, and you’re invited to be a part of it.
We want you here, and we hope that after reading this you’ll gain more trust in who we are and why we do what we do.
Let’s go!
So What Actually is a Discipleship Training School?
A Discipleship Training School (DTS) is a six-month missions and discipleship program designed to help you know God deeper and make Him known to the world.
Students spend the first half learning about God, their identity, and their faith, and the second half traveling with a team to share the Gospel in the nations.
The History of DTS and YWAM: From Vision to Global Movement
In 1974, the very first discipleship training school was started by Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With A Mission. DTS started as a way for young people to have access to learn about God and then go share the Gospel across the world.
What started as a single vision of waves has now turned into a global missions movement across cultures, languages, and countries.
Loren’s Vision
“Suddenly, I was looking at a map of the world, only the map was alive and moving!
I could see all the continents, and waves were crashing onto their shores.
The waves became young people—kids my age and even younger—covering all the continents of the globe. They were talking to people on street corners and outside bars.
They were going from house to house and preaching the Gospel.”
(Excerpt from Is That Really You, God? by Loren Cunningham with Janice Rogers, YWAM Publishing.)
Loren’s obedience to the vision he first saw now has turned into what many people credit as being one of the world’s largest missions movements.
What made Loren’s mission different was that he challenged the typical pathway people had to follow to become missionaries in the early 1900s.
What had once been limited to a small, highly qualified group became an opportunity that opened the door for young people from all kinds of backgrounds to be involved.
Loren created a mission where youth could serve short-term, interdenominationally, globally, and unsalaried—the first of its kind during this time period.
The backstory and history make us who we are today.
We’ve been around to tell stories and grow the mission for over 60 years, deepening our roots and expanding to new horizons.
We see God still using these waves today to cast vision for the exciting future of YWAM to come!
YWAM Today: A Global Missions Movement
Now, YWAM has over 2,000 locations in nearly 200 nations. Thousands of full-time staff from all different cultures, backgrounds, and upbringings now come together to serve in over 200 countries for the sake of the Gospel!
But every decision to say “yes” to God and respond to His call begins with you.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19–20
Deciding to Join a DTS: How to Say Yes to God’s Call
This part is exciting! It also can be a little scary—saying yes to something you may have never expected to.
But sometimes that’s exactly how God works. He shifts things in us, and even if we don’t realize it’s His call that is inviting us into a story bigger than our own, it is all Him.
That feeling of excitement, those rushes of emotions, wondering how and when and where you’ll do your DTS—but knowing it’s something you keep feeling like you need to do.
That’s where it all starts. God is inviting you to know Him. This is your chance to say “yes.”
What to Expect in a DTS
What really happens in DTS is never the same for each person. But what we do know is that you never leave the same as when you started.
DTS is created to help you grow deeper roots in your foundation of beliefs, to learn who God is and how to have a relationship with Him, and strengthen your understanding of why you believe what you believe.
Lectures, which fall under the “Training Phase,” are created to help you confront your beliefs and your identity in Christ. This phase is a time for learning more about God and yourself, as we invite you to “Know God.”
But it is more than just lectures. It is community, discipleship, spending time with God, meeting new friends, growing into more of the person God designed you to be, and so much more!
As the Training Phase wraps up, students begin to prepare to take what they have learned and apply it during the Outreach Phase.
For many students, DTS becomes a turning point where their faith becomes personal and they discover how God wants to use their life.
DTS Outreach
In the Outreach Phase, students get to go with a team and leaders into the nations to preach the Gospel. It is when we are called to “Make God Known.”
All that they have learned during Lecture Phase gets put into action as they go into the world and share the love of God.
Sometimes ministry in the nations looks like serving at a drop-in shelter, cooking meals with families, visiting remote villages, playing with children in an orphanage, serving local businesses, doing evangelism, building friendships, and praying over the place you are in.
Every outreach looks different, but it becomes one of the most memorable times in DTS!
There can be so much joy in exploring new cultures, loving people who don’t even speak your language, laughing with strangers, and praying for them. God does so much!
How to Start Your DTS: Programs, Tracks, and Application Steps
The best place to start is HERE on our website.
We tell you about the heart behind DTS and answer the basics.
From there you’ll be able to see what DTSs are currently running, along with different tracks that you can choose to learn during your DTS.
Some DTSs have a “focus” such as demographic, geographic, or interest-based themes.
But we also have the Kona DTS that is our traditional DTS for everyone!
To find out more specifics on the DTS you’re interested in, click on the DTS’s page to find more details such as start date, program fees, school contacts, and more about what makes it unique!
By clicking “Apply” in the top right corner, you’ll be taken to our student portal where you will be asked to create an account and follow the steps to submit an application.
(Sometimes submitting an application can feel like the scariest part, but you got this!)
Your Next Step: Saying Yes to DTS
How does it feel to be a part of something that is maybe unlike anything you’ve ever done? Don’t worry, you are not alone.
Thousands of students every year wrestle with the same thoughts and feelings. Some come with doubts, questions, or without fully knowing why they feel drawn to do a DTS.
It’s a big decision. But it’s also one of the best decisions you can make with your life (even if we’re a little biased).
Spending 6 months learning how to Know God and Make Him Known is never wasted.
The waves of young people going to the nations didn’t stop with the first generation of missionaries. They’re still moving today.
So… will you say yes?
